Star Wars: KotOR - The Dark Wars Begin
by Justice For Gary
Summary: 3952 BBY. The Jedi Order lies in ruin. An emergency meeting on Katarr has been called to determine the fate of the few desperate Jedi left in the galaxy. An evil force roams beyond the curtain, waiting to strike. The true power of the dark side of the Force exposes itself as the Jedi Civil War ends... and the Dark Wars begin!
1. Chapter 1

**STAR WARS:**

 **THE KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC - THE DARK WARS BEGIN**

 **The Mandalorians brought war to the Republic. A decade of fierce fighting passed and the Republic suffered great losses and neared destruction. While the Jedi council refused to act, the angered Jedi Revan refused to watch the Republic suffer any longer. Against the council's orders, Revan rallied hundreds of Jedi, they turned the tide of war and pushed the Mandalorian forces back. In the climactic battle of Malachor V, Revan slew Mandalore, Supercommando of the Mandalorians, in a single melee.**

 **In an attempt to completely destroy the Mandalorian fleet, Revan and Malak activated their secret weapon: a mass shadow generator. The resulting implosion ravaged the entire planet and vaporized the Mandalorian fleet, as well as thousands of Republic and Jedi ships. A victory it was, but a pyrrhic one nonetheless. Countless Jedi had been slaughtered at Malachor and in battles across the Galaxy. The Republic was still facing near collapse as well. Thousands of Jedi and soldiers of the Republic were now missing or confirmed dead.**

 **Then the civil war. The final blow to the Jedi Order. Revan and Malak, once disciples of the light, vanished into deep space with the last remnants of their fleet, claiming to be hunting the last retreating Mandalorians. They returned months later as dark lords with a Sith armada that would bring the Republic to its knees. With Jedi numbers a mere hundred throughout the Galaxy, it was beginning to look like the end of the Order for many. But the Force works in mysterious, merciful ways. Revan turned his back on the dark side of the force, and with the help of Bastila, a young Jedi warrior who showed him the light again, he defeated his old friend and apprentice Malak, ridding the Galaxy of the Sith for good. Or so they thought...**

 _Katarr, Mid Rim_

 _3952 BBY, four years after the Jedi Civil War_

The cargo transport pushed it's was through the Katarri sky and landed on to the cracked concrete pad stationed outside the Miraluka colony's walls. The pilot engaged the exit ramp as the ship's passengers prepared to disembark. All of them were Jedi, there for an emergency meeting. This meeting was to determine the future of the Jedi Order after a costly war with Mandalore and followed by another, more devastating conflict with Darth Revan and Darth Malak.

When the few dozen remaining Jedi heard of this urgent meeting called by Master Atris of the Taris council, none knew what she had planned. Master Vandar and Master Dorak of the Dantooine enclave departed from their ship and followed the other Jedi into the Colony. They were closer than most and shared a stronger friendship than most had the chance to have. Vandar was hundreds of years his elder, but Dorak saw them both as two wise old masters past their prime. They didn't deserve to live through such destructive times.

"We need to start thinking about expanding our horizons, Dorak. The Jedi numbers grow less each day... They have lost hope in the Order and are beginning to turn away from the Jedi. Even worse, they embrace their confusion and anger. The dark side of the force has been growing since the end of the war," Vandar said, shuffling his way next to his old friend. A small wooden cane helped the little green man down the ramp.

"It is something I've felt for some time now. I expected the opposite. Perhaps Revan's influence was much stronger than we thought, Master Vandar. The young have lost their faith in the Jedi Order. Revan's philosophy has tainted them. When they see a need for action, they want to play the part of the hero. Their pride is dangerous," Master Dorak replied.

As Chronicler of the Jedi Archives, Dorak found calm in the databases of the Coruscant archives. Untouched by the wars, the database was vast. He spent many nights in the empty halls searching for any type of texts that would shed light on their epidemic. It was in vain. One night, another one of the pupils approached him, she was crying. He could remember the fear in her eyes. She had a vision in the night of a great dark hand pulling strings like a puppet-master of evil. Thousands of dead Jedi were being marched into a great fire, controlled by the hand. He calmed the padawan, but he too felt the darkness in the Force.

"A strange darkness is in our presence, Vandar. Something I haven't felt before, but it is certainly very real. Perhaps Atris will have some new knowledge of the situation," Dorak said, but he felt as if it was only wishful thinking.

The gates opened and the mass of Jedi entered the courtyard. They made their way through the city of Miraluka tents and markets. It felt right for the Jedi to be in the presence of the Miraluka people. They were a species of force wielders with a unique, symbiotic relationship to the cosmic aspect of the force. Like humans in every way but one, born without eyes. They saw through the force and understood it better than most. They were rare to fall to the temptation of the dark side. Vandar felt a peace among them he hadn't felt in a long time.

"Although it is real, Dorak, it is different from Revan. Something far more sinister. I sense a wound in the Force. Ever since Malachor... Things have not been right. I doubt we have seen the end of this," Vandar said, using his cane to help him up the steps towards the massive conclave tent. They were straggling behind the other Jedi.

"Whatever caused Revan and Malak to turn to the dark side is still out there, we should bring up to this conclave a possible reconnaissance mission to track Revan's old footsteps, find this evil and destroy it," said Dorak.

"A seek and destroy mission will do us no good if it was strong enough to turn Revan against us. We must save our resources. We must rebuild first," Vandar grunted. He didn't like the idea of throwing more Jedi into the open. Even he found himself waking up most nights of recent in pain over the loss of another padawan to the dark side. An apprentice commiting murder. A padawan killing their master. The feeling of an innocent moisture farmer's windpipe constricted over a few credits. He felt it all.

"It's gonna be dark soon, old friend. The conclave will begin shortly. Let's find a seat inside," Vandar said. They entered the tent with the other Jedi.

Rows of wooden seats surrounded a fire in a large semi-circle. All the Jedi took their seats, chattering. Some hadn't seen each other in years, others were weeping when they saw that some of their friends hadn't loved through the final years of the war. A Miraluka servant passed out food and drink while they sat for sometime before the room grew silent.

Atris stepped into the tent and observed the room. Her face was of worry and sadness. As she made her way to the center of the council to a makeshift podium, some of the Jedi called out to her, demanding answers. She did not respond to them. As she faced the crowd of them she began to speak:

"I know some of you are heartbroken. Some of you are anxious. All of you terrified. When Malak was finally defeated, we had to pick up the prices of our broken Order and had two choices... One was to give up and fall into darkness. Abandon our posts and let the Republic deal with the aftermath as the Jedi faded into obscurity, abandoned by time. The other choice was to face this calamity head on and refuse to be subject to the Sith's lingering will. Even now, as the final remnants of the Sith Empire are being pushed towards the Outer Rim, their presence in the Force is stronger than ever. Malachor V was a turning point in this civil war, but it gave birth to something indescribable. It is something I'm not sure any of us have felt before..."

A Jedi called from the audience: "Where is the Revanchist now? Our spies have not given us any new information on him for months."

"Revan... has left in search of his past. His last known location was somewhere in the Esstran System, but that was a long time ago. We presume him dead," Atris said, looking down at the ground.

A series of gasps and whispers rushed through the crowd. Revan had been one of the strongest Jedi the Order had to offer. Although the Grand Council ordered him into hiding, the master would have proved useful now. How they regretted this decision, but this was not the time for hindsight. With Revan gone, presumed dead, the next step was to find out who or what killed him.

Atris asked for calm amongst the worries crowd.

"Calm yourselves, please. Now is not the time to lament over Revan's departure. We must now discuss the future of the Order. We need a plan to construct our destroyed temples and training grounds. We must rejuvenate the youth to come back to the apprenticeship."

"Master Atris, I suggest we siphon the last of our funds into constructing a new temple while we send out missionaries to world's unaffected by the Mandalorian invasion and Malak's influence. They would be rich with new minds willing to take up our cause," Vandar suggested to Atris. She thought for a moment.

"The work will be difficult, Master Vandar. Do you wish to take responsibility of these missionaries? At this rate, we would need to triple the workload of each missionary. Three planets per Jedi if we are to hope in reaching a steady population in the next few years."

"A Jedi is always up to the task, no matter the amount of work that needs to be done," Vandar smiled. Atris was always fond of Vandar.

As a child she thought of him as the nicer of the masters in the old council, yet as she grew older she saw this as more of a weakness, especially during Revan's hearing. She believed Revan should pay for his crimes along with the Exile Surik, though Vandar had asked to for them to be given a chance. She guessed his taste for mercy against discipline was another way of balancing the Force.

Vandar was always one to criticize Atris for here disposition to anger. Through anger leads to blindness, he taught her as a young padawan, and blindness leaves a Jedi without guidance from the Force.

The meeting went on long into the night. Discussions of those who were lost, quotas that needed to be met, which stations were left undamaged and which could continue to provide homes to the masters that lost theirs in the war. The Katarri moon rose high in the sky as the lights of the Miraluka communities went out one by one across the land. The Jedi called the meeting to a halt and Atris asked that they give some time to meditate and get some rest from the long journey many of them had made to meet here. Vandar and Dorak meditated in their own tents donated by the Miraluka.

Master Dorak felt himself slipping into deep trance. His escape from the long nightmare was in his own mind where he could recall upon the faces of some of his own students. He remembered their smiling faces as they made their first lightsabers. The call of the Dantooine wind across the vast plains as they hunted down kinraths for sport. Teaching the younglings how to harness their special gift by levitating fruits around their heads and picking up rocks to skip across the glassy waters on Lake Monda with nothing but the Force.

Envisioning himself on the lake with the younglings, he turned and saw a familiar face: his final apprentice Deesra. A shining example of a student, the Twi'lek was put to the ultimate test during Malak's attack four years before. His lightsaber ignited to reveal a consular's green blade as legions of sith marched towards the enclave. Calling Deesra to his side, they awaited the battle with Master Vandar and Master Vrook.

He felt a dark presence among them, from across them stood a group of fallen jedi. Their blades ignited red charging towards them. Swinging frantically, the sith hacked away, looking for an opening in their defences. Deesra deflected the furious blows with skill, just like his master taught him. Finding an opening in one dark one's fury, he snuck his blade underneath the sith's defence and pierced his body under the breast. He gasped and fell to the ground, one smoldering holing going through him. Dorak hacked another in half at the waist and turned to find his apprentice in the confusion, but a new blade erupted from behind him and readied to end him. He swung around fast, but not fast enough, not before the red blade reached his back, he closed his eyes waiting for the end, but instead a shove from the side.

Deesra stood, impaled on the red plasma, then crumpled to the ground. Vrook and Vandar finished the final sith warriors and grabbed Dorak, begging him to retreat. Dorak ignored them and held his dying apprentice in his arms. A shuttle broke the sky from above them as star-fighters exploded around them. Vrook grabbed Dorak and hurried him aboard the final transport out of Dantooine. Deesra lay in the grassy plains alone as the Enclave simultaneously was struck by a furious laser from Malak's capital ship. The explosion killed many Jedi, they had lost Dantooine.

Dorak gasped and swung around, lightsaber still activated in his hand. A cold sweat ran down his left temple. He observed his surroundings searching for more fallen knights. It took him a moment to realize he was still in the tent. It was just before morning. He let out a sigh of relief and sheathed his saber. He felt wrong, like something was not right on his mind. Something about this world felt awkward.

Even among so many Jedi and Miraluka, the presence of the dark side was still all too present. He never got to tell Deesra goodbye. He hopes somehow he made it off the planet,but he knew the blow was enough to end all hope. Somehow he still felt as though the Force was telling him Deesra was still out there, searching for his lost master.


	2. Chapter 2

"Not much sleep, Master Dorak?" Vandar questioned his friend as they approached the conclave yet again to further discuss the future of the Jedi.

"No, I had a nightmare last night of Deesra. When the Sith attacked..."

"Now is not the time to have a clouded mind, my old friend. We have all lost ones we cared greatly about, that is a fact. I empathize with you. Deesra was a strong willed young man, he should have had a more noble..." Vandar trailed off his last word. Deesra was almost as much a student to him as he was to Dorak, but Deesra was to succeed Dorak as Chronicler of the enclave. Dorak taught him everything. They shared a strong bond that a father and son would have.

"Somehow I feel he is still out there... More now than ever, Master," Dorak replied.

"The Force is difficult to interpret at times, Dorak. I cannot sense his presence in our area, but I would be lying if I said I didn't have at least a hope for him to still be alive. We could use another scholar in our trying times. Preservation of knowledge will be the key to the survival of the Jedi bow," Vander said stepping into the tent first and taking a seat. Dorak took his place beside him.

The other Jedi were just beginning to enter when forward communicator began to vibrate. Dorak retrieved it from his pocket and turned it on.

"Master Dorak?" A gruffled voice came from the other end.

Dorak was stunned to hear that voice: "This cannot be... Master Vrook?"

"Correct, Dorak. Listen to me... there is a critical favor I must ask of you," Vrook responded. He sounded anxious and almost whispering.

"Vrook, its been at least three years since we last heard from you! We thought you may have been killed! Remnants of the Sith Empire are still hunting down Jedi," Dorak said.

"It's not the remnants of an old empire, Dorak. I need you to listen... There is a new threat in the Galaxy. Even now, planets are going dark along the Outer Rim, planets with Jedi refugees on them. Something is sensing them out."

"But that is why we are here in Katarr, Vrook. You should be here with the rest of the Order. We could use your insight."

"No! Dorak, don't you see... Anywhere groups of Jedi go, it draws the Sith near. Planets swallowed! Don't you feel the wound on the Force? You must tell the others to disperse from Katarr as soon as possible!"

"Master, Vrook..." Vandar took hold of the communicator, "Where have you been these last few years?"

"Master Vandar? I hoped you were not foolish enough to adhere to Atris' request!"

Vrook took a breath and sighed, "I cannot tell you where I'm located, otherwise I'd have you come to me. I can't risk giving away my position to anyone."

"Atris? She called this conclave here to discuss our future! You should be here."

"Masters, you must flee! Atris is planning something. I sense a terrible happening!"

"Master Vrook, you may feel as if we are unsafe, but Katarr is well hidden from the eyes of the Republic and the Sith. I assure you we will be fine. Your concern is noted, but we cannot afford to miss this meeting. Please contact us after so we can determine a means of meeting with you," Vandar replied and handed the communicator back to Dorak.

"Dorak, you must listen. Ask Atris! She knows something she's not telling you! I've sensed it. Then depart from that planet immediately!"

"Okay, Master Vrook. I will inquire her after the conclave... Await my call and we will sort this out. Dorak out."

The communicator shut off and he pocketed it beneath his robes next to his lightsaber. He did not like that call at all.

"What do you make of it," he said to Vandar. The rest of the Jedi had taken their seats and the meeting was getting underway.

"Vrook has not been heard from in three years, Dorak. Wouldn't you expect the Republic to notice a string of disappearing planets in that time?" Vandar replied.

"Not very likely... Unless those planets we're off Republic records. Their resources have been scrambled since the end of the Mandalorian Wars, the communication relays have all been destroyed in battles. I've sensed no disturbances in the Force pertaining to lost Jedi dying... Come to think of it, I haven't felt their presence in the Force either. Do you think others have severed themselves from the Force like Revan or Surik to hide themselves?" Dorak questioned. It was strange that they were absent in the waves of the Force, but strange things have been happening all over the systems lately.

"It is possible. Maybe Atris will have more information on this. She secluded herself to her tent immediately after last night's gathering."

Atris served on the same council as Vandar and Vrook in Taris during the Mandorian Wars. She was known to be a devout acolyte of the Force, but under that, she was also suspect to brash decisions based on emotions rather than facts. She wished Revan and Surik to face the ultimate punishment for their actions during the war, forced severance from the Force. However, some of the council disagreed with her and allowed Revan to go in peace with his wife, as long as he refrained from teaching students. Meetra disappeared from politics and the Force some years back. Vandar felt Atris' relationship with the Jedi council grow weary that day.

The conclave covered more mundane activities the Jedi had to continue doing. A heavy focus on the recovery of any information scous could find. That meant sending a squad to Dantooine to enter the destroyed library. Dorak was not about to volunteer to go back there anytime soon. Then the tone of the meeting shifted and went another way completely.

Atris began to discuss an attack plan if the threat revealed itself. Many of the Jedi were unaware entirely that there even was a threat to begin with. Many could not sense the presence of the enemy in the Force. This worried Dorak and Vandar. If Vrook's warning was true and Atris was preparing for some type of attack, then maybe there was something being hidden from them.

It grew dark again and the Miraluka had begun to close up their bazaars for the night. Atris called the conclave and the Jedi began to exit. Dorak and Vandar approached Atris as she returned her quarters.

"Master Atris, a word, please?" Vandar said. Atris turned and stared at the pair. Her white hair and robes contrasted the dark open sky.

"Yes Master Dorak. How can I help you two?"

"We have received a sinister warning from Master Vrook. We don't know location as he meant to keep it a secret, but he warned us that there is indeed a dark force at work here and it is ready hunting down Jedi refugees. Have you felt anything?" Vandar stated.

"I can assure you that whatever is out there, the Jedi can handle, masters. We struck down the Sith in the civil war, we can surely strike then down again," she replied.

"Atris, we are down to a hundred Jedi left and the Sith threat lives on. Are you not aware of the apparent fall of the Order? Do you not have fear?" Dorak exclaimed.

"Fear is not the emotion we need now, Dorak. We need a plan of attack, of reconstruction, of surprise. The dark side always has a weakness. They too are of the physical world and can be destroyed like any other," Atris said.

Dorak felt an uneasy pit begin to grow in his stomach, "Atris, you act as if you know what is out there. You seem to want to go on an offensive strike. We don't have the numbers to sacrifice!"

"I will tell you this: we have a gathering of the final Jedi here on Katarr, the strongest, the most cunning, and practical Jedi left in the galaxy. They would not have survived the last fifteen years had they not been prepared for what we faced... and I have full confidence that when the enemy reveals itself, we will be ready," she said, retreating to her tent without another word.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Vandar."

"Her explanation was not very comforting. We should consider leaving soon and find Vrook. We need look into this matter deeper. Find out what happened on those planets," Vandar scratched his chin and returned back to their tents, "Send for a ship back to Coruscant at the break of dawn. We will see what is going on here."

Vandar lay in his cot meditating. Thinking about Revan. Searching through the force for any sign of him proved difficult. If he was still alive, he was far away enough that his presence was insignificant in the galactic web. He felt beyond the barrier of the Galaxy that led into wild space, where no life existed for trillions of light years. He felt no trace of Revan there either.

"He must still be in the Galaxy... But where?"

His last sensation of a presence was near Korriban, but then nothing. Absolute silence, strange. Death of a force sensitive normally does not cause a complete silence, but an after shadow effect. They're spirit can still be sensed in the physical world. This was not good.

He saw the sith graveyard world slowly turning in his mind, but beyond it was a shadowy sphere he had not recognized before. A planet loomed off in the distance, surrounded by something. An evil energy of some sort, contorting and confusing the energies around it. He attempted to reach out and determine what it was, but a wild sensation overtook him as he tried to connect with the planet.

Suddenly, he was not alone in his meditation, something else was reaching out to connect with him... No, not connect... Deter.

A wild flash of light and shock surged through his mind. He lunged back through the galaxy and into his own mind. His eyes burst open, shaking and confused. Something did not want to be found, and it was near the sith world. He began to feel drained and found it hard to stay awake. He passed out soon after, a splitting headache over taking him.

Dorak awoke in the morning ready to leave the planet. He went to see Vandar, but found him very unwell. Opening the flap to the tent revealed a sick, dark green master shaking and shivering.

"Master Vandar! What happened to you!"

Vandar explained what he felt to Dorak as best he could. Through coughs, Vandar croaked, "A force very powerful is lurking near Korriban, I felt it last night... We need to get to Vrook. The three of us should see this clearer together in meditation."

"I'll contact Master Vrook. The shuo should be arriving soon, I'll let him know we are leaving Katarr," Dorak assured him, "Let me help you to the landing pad."

The duo made their way to the landing pad they arrived on. They saw the quartermaster ship breaking over the horizon and it landed, the whirring engines dying down. The pilot disembarked to greet them. He looked like a basic space jockey. Dorak didn't like him from the moment he saw him. He knew he should have went with the A-line transports instead of trying to save a credit.

"Are you the the one who called for the transport to Coruscant?"

"Yes, we are ready to leave now, if you don't mind," Dorak looked at Vandar, who was still coughing.

"You can put that little green fellow on the ship, but I haven't eaten in hours. I'm just gonna stop by the bazaar to get a bite then we can head out. Make yourselves at home."

The pilot disappeared into the colony. Dorak sighed and helped Vandar into the freighter and put Vandar in one of the crew beds.

"Master Vandar, are you going to be alright? I've never seen you get this ill in such a short time, what happened last night?"

"Something... Beyond Korriban... We need to get to Vrook. Something is coming, Dorak. Something more dangerous than anything we have seen before. It's filled with hatred... But fear as well. It felt afraid as I tried to reach out to it," Vandar said weakly.

"Do you thin Vrook was right? About the Jedi refugee planets going dark?"

"I fear the worst... Where is that blasted pilot?" Vandar elt out a series of violent coughs.

"Rest easy Master, he will be here soon... We will confer with the Republic base on Coruscant and get you some treatment," Dorak assured him, but when he looked out the freighter port-side window, he saw a white robed figure awaiting them on the landing pad.

"Atris..." Vandar coughed.

"I'll handle this, Vandar," Dorak sighed.

"Where do you think you are taking Master Vandar? We need you to stay," Atris told Dorak. He sensed hostility in her voice. She was clearly agitated.

"What are you keeping from us, Atris. You do know something about the Sith you aren't telling us."

"It's nothing we can't handle together, Dorak. But we need to be together if this plan is going to work!"

"Atris, Master Vandar is deathly sick. I've never seen him like this before. We need to head to Coruscant to get him proper treatment, the Miraluka don't have the medical requirement for someone his age."

Atris suddenly became much more lethargic. "Vandar is sick? Then it has already begun, I thought we would have had a few more days... Dorak, you must stay!"

"This has gone on long enough, Atris! What is going on?"

"The Sith have been searching individual planets in search of Jedi and consuming them. They have a Sith Lord that has been hunting down our members, but I saw a pattern. They only attack when they know the Jedi are weak and cannot put up a resistance. They took advantage of our division. But with a group of Jedi this large, we could draw them out of hiding and destroy them!" Atris collapsed her fist to accentuate her final point.

Dorak was stunned, "You... Should have approached the council before this. I'll have to report this back to Coruscant."

Atris stepped closer to Dorak.

"I leaked hints of our location to draw the, into my trap. One Sith Lord is no match for a hundred Jedi warriors."

"Have you lost your mind?" Dorak gasped, his fears confirmed. Atris had given into the dark side.

"I can't let you return to the High Council before we defeat this threat, Dorak. Either we destroy it, or it destroys us, she ignited her lightsaber.

"Atris, the dark side is powerful, you've let it corrupt your vision! The Jedi do not act on impulse! You remind me of another Jedi..."

"I am not Revan! The Mandalorian conflict was not our war! He deserved to be excommunicated, and you accepted him back! You betrayed the Order as much as he did? But things will change this time. A new Order in a new era. But first we must destroy the Sith once and for all!" Atris exclaimed and lunged towards Dorak. He activated his own lightsaber just in time.

They clashed, heat searing from the contact point of the blue and green plasma. They locked eyes for a moment before stepping away. Atris went on the offensive, Dorak blocking her strikes. Ducking and jumping, he concentrated on a opening to deliver a non-lethal strike, but she was fighting with the fury of the dark side.

Atris was a master of the saber, covering all her openings with another slash. Dorak lost track of his step and stumbled for a moment against her momentum, giving her the slightest opening to knick his arm, slicing away the sleeve of his robe and cauterizing a gash into his left arm.

"Dorak, join me... or I cannot say this will end well for the both of us."

"Atris, you can't expect me to jump head first into another battle with the Sith without the guidance of the council or intelligence on the enemy. Please, stand down!"

"It's too late for that, Master. They will be here soon enough, Vandar has shown signs of their arrival already. The weakest of the Jedi fall first, then the others. We must ban together! It's now or never!"

"How do you know all this Atris? Why have you not told the Republic?"

"The Republic is over! Crumbling from the Mandalorian War and Revan's impulse! I am trying to save the Order! My handmaidens have had to scour the galaxy for evidence of this threat with the aid of the Republic. They are a dying institution, but I will assure that the Order lives on!"

Another flurry of strikes barraged Dorak's defenses. Another break in his block saw another blade strike across his torso. Dorak fell and landed on his back. Atris lifted her lightsaber for the final strike.

"This is it, Master Dorak! You either stay or die. I cannot let you alert the council, they failed with Revan and they will fail again."

Master Dorak thought for a moment.

"You're mad, Atris. You've fallen far since the wars began, young one... May the Force be with you..." Dorak closed his eyes and awaited the death blow.

Atris brought the lightsaber down.

Dorak opened his eyes. The saber stopped mere inches from his face. Vandar was standing in the entrance to the ship, his tridactyl hand pushing a tremendous wave of force energy towards Atris. She was sent flying meters back and crashed into a nearby tree. She struggled to get up.

"It is time to leave, Master Dorak..." Vandar said, then tumbled back into the ship.

The pilot came running from the colony in a panic.

"The colony! It's burning! The Sith are invading!" He screamed as he ran up the ramp into the cockpit.

Dorak looked over to the walls of the colony and realized a black cloud of smoke billowing into the sky.


	3. Chapter 3

The afternoon sky was covered in thick black smoke. Fires raged across the Miraluka colony on Katarr, thousands were burning alive while the hundred Jedi attempted to protect the survivors. From above the smoke hovered a massive ship. It was in horrible condition, barely being held together, how it managed to stay in the air was beyond Master Dorak's imagination. The inside was devoid of any force presence, but it scared him to look any deeper into it's hull. A great evening was inside, watching as it rained fire down onto Katarr.

Old republic transport ships hummed out of it and landed in the inner walls of the colony, dark robed warriors led by dark Jedi made their way through all houses, slicing down civilians and Jedi alike. It was a massacre.

Skirmishes broke out in the streets as the last of the Jedi fought valiantly, but in vain as they were cut down, only taking a few Sith with them. Atris watched in terror as she realized her underestimation of the Sith swarm.

"No... This is more than anything I expected. This is an organized militia... The Jedi..." She whispered to herself, utterly broken.

Dorak called to her in a final attempt of reason through the echoing explosions: "Atris! Come with us! We must get out of here!"

Atris looked back to them as the pilot began the lift off sequence. She turned her back to them and ignited her lightsaber once again, charging towards the gates of the colony.

"Atris!"

Dorak called back once more but to no avail. As Atris made her way to the front gate, another sith transport landed between her and it. She stopped and readied herself for battle. The ramp to the shuttle opened and all went silent.

Atris focused on the figure slowly emerging from the shuttle, but she could feel her legs grow weak. Stepping down from the ramp was a figure of pure dark energy. This was the commander of the dark force. He was pitch black, darker than starless space. He bore a mask of white and red, a black maw behind it. As he stepped on to the soul, the grass around him withered and died.

Atris focused, but was terrified.

"In the name of the Order of the Jedi, I demand you cease this slaughter!" Atris called out to the shadow slowly drawing closer to her.

The sounds that came from the Sith Lord were not of any language heard in the Galaxy but the pain theat was brought to all near him would drive any non-sensitive to madness. He opened his robes to reveal his chasis of ancient Sithari armor and a silver lightsaber. It flung to his hand and activated in an instant, glowing red. Without hesitation, the shadow barreled towards her in a have of black robe and struck furiously at Atris.

She did her best to ward of his slashes, but she was no match for the power the Sith Lord weld. The bulky freighter lifted off the ground as Dorak could only watch in helplessness as Atris did her best to hold off the Sith Lord and the flew out of range of the behemoth star ship raining hell down to Katarr.

The ship entered hyperspace just outside of Katarr's heliosphere, a danger close jump but necessary to escape the deadly laser blasts destroying many of the ship's attempting to escape the planet.

"The Jedi... They're dead. All of them. I can sense it in the Force," Dorak said, sitting across from Vandar. He held his head in his hands and wept.

"A new enemy has revealed itself after all this time... It was strange that we could not sense him approaching come morning. A new evil all together," Vandar replied in his stoic fashion. He was still speaking weakly through small fits of coughs. He was never one to show emotion, even in the most trying of times.

"What are we going to do, Vandar? Everyone's dead... The Order is over."

"Now is not the time to weep, Master Dorak. Now is the time to formulate. The dark side is strong, but the light is stronger. Our friends would want us to serve justice, but we can't do that if we are dead. We must find a place to hide."

"What about the council on Coruscant? They must be warned!"

"The surviving members of the council will sense the loss of our friends. They will go into hiding as well. As long as they are alive, we can find them somehow. Our contingency plan in case this event would ever occur states that they must go their own ways and stay hidden under new identities. It will be difficult to find them... But it is a task we must do. Let's find Vrook."

"I could try contacting him on the comlink," Dorak said, wiping his eyes and fumbling around in his pocket for the device. He pulled it out and pressed the call button. He realized his hands were shaking.

It rang three times before Vrook's voice came through. "Dorak? Dorak? Are you and Vandar safe? I feel a terrible disturbance coming from Katarr. The Miraluka! The Jedi! What happened?"

"Yes, Vrook. We are safe. For now. We need to meet up and hide out for a while. You were right, there's a new Sith hunting down Jedi and he has an army with him."

"An army? I never thought it would be this bad... I felt a disturbance in the Force, a terrible one. Are any of the others with you?"

"No, they're all dead, Vrook..." Dorak began to cry again.

"Impossible... I felt others who were able flee. You are not the only two to survive."

"Who else made it?" Dorak asked, furiously curious. Vrook thought for a moment, but caught himself before revealing the names.

"It's not safe we speak about this over comlink. We must meet in person. You can come to my safehouse. I'm on Dantooine. Look for me north of the Enclave ruins, ask the scavengers for the Dragar's Estate. Vrook out..." He paused for a moment, then said through a worried voice, "May the Force be with us."

Dantooine? Why did it have to be Dantooine. Dorak moaned as he thought of stepping foot in that planet again. The memories of Deesra were still clear in his mind. He dreaded returning to that planet, but knew he had no other choice. Vrook was still there and they needed to lay low for the time being. They pulled out of hyperspace near Tatooine. The space around the desert world was always inactive besides Czerka transports coming in and out of it in a single file. The footsteps of their pilot came echoing down the halls.

Blaster drawn, he entered the hold where Vandar and Dorak were sitting. His five o'clock shadow, messy hair, and worn in attire complimented by tears and holes in his flight pants gave way the assumption that he hadn't been port side for a few days, a couple weeks even. His finger still on the trigger, he began to speak:

"Alright you two, I'm gonna ask you a simple question and I want an honest answer. Jedi or Sith?"

Vandar spoke before Dorak could, "Jedi. I am Master Vandar and this is Master Dorak of the former Enclave on Dantooine."

"Okay, _Master_ Vandar, if you two were Jedi, tell me why the white haired lady with the blue lightsaber was trying to kill this one?" He pointed his blaster at Dorak. This time he spoke.

"She was... Not acting very much like a Jedi at that moment, sir. I believe I she had fallen prey to her emotions, the dark side took her... For the moment. I cannot tell you much, we are just as in shock as you are."

"Shock? I'm not in shock, I fought in the Mandie War for six years. I'd say I'm more surprised at seeing such an organized Sith strike after they'd been dormant since Revan."

"Are you a Republic soldier?"

"I was once, but the Republic has had to let most of us go to cut down on expense. I run a business of my own if you know what I mean," the pilot said, smiling.

"Smuggling drugs? That's a class X offense, you know," Dorak said, having always had a distaste for smugglers. Deesra's parents were abusers and smugglers were the ones profiting off of the suffering of others.

"Relax guy, I don't need a senior citizen telling me what's right from wrong. As far as I'm concerned, there is no more Republic or Jedi Order to uphold those laws anymore!"

That comment irked Dorak more than it should have, but after seeing what he saw, his own emotions were running high. He quickly grabbed the blaster pistol from the pilots hands with a strong pull of the force and turned the tables. Now the pilot was at the barrel of the blaster.

"Calm yourself, Dorak!" Vandar shouted at him, "We have seen enough bloodshed for one afternoon. After all, this man saved us..." Another fit of coughs took him by surprise.

"Listen, I don't want any trouble. I'm not gonna turn you over to the Sith or anything if that's what you think. Master Gorzak," the pilot said nervously.

"It's _Dorak_ and neither do we to you. Let's start by building up some trust. You know our names, what is yours?" he said, still pointing the blaster at the man.

"Name is Edan. Edan Nox. Ex-soldier of the Republic and professional smuggler. Normally I'd say at your service if you were Jedi, but you still haven't proven to me that yet!"

"Trust me, if we were Sith, you'd already be dead. Sith are not very keen on taking prisoners," Does said with a slight, bitter smirk. He handed the blaster pistol back over to Edan and he reluctantly tucked it back into an empty leather holster around his right thigh.

"Okay, Masters. I'll believe for the time being... and seeing as you two still paid me to take you somewhere, I'm obliged to continue with our business deal. Still wanna go to Coruscant?"

"No, we have a change in plans. The surviving members of the High Council had to have felt the destruction at Katarr. I'm guessing their contingency plan has been put into play and they have gone into hiding. We need to go to Dantooine," Dorak informed him and Edan nodded.

He went back into the cockpit and readied for another jump to hyperspace. A shrill noise echoed through the hull that sounded like a dying mynock. He banged his fist into the console with frustration. The hyperdrive needed some repairs. He walked back out of the cockpit to the storage room to look for his utility belt and box of tools.

Dorak came up behind him, "Engine trouble?"

"Shouldn't be too long. I'll have us to Dantooine in the next couple of hours."

Dorak walked past the cockpit but stopped when something caught his eye on the radar system. Three blinking lights coming closer to the green dot that marked their position. He called down the hallway.

"Are you expecting visitors, Edan?"

"What? No... Unless-"

A large bang rattled the exterior of the ship, causing then both to lose balance for a second. A clattering sound of tools hitting the floor accompanied by Edan swearing came after and he ran to the navicomputer. Somebody fired a warning shot.

"Oh no. We've got company. You know you don't become a successful smuggler without stepping on a few toes along the way!"

Dorak looked disapprovingly at him, "So who is it?"

"Some of the Exchange's bounty hunters. I lost the a few months ago and thought they gave up. I guess I was wrong. Would you mind offering your services?"

"Normally, us Jedi do not meddle in these types of affairs."

"Well _these_ bounty hunters don't take to kindly to Jedi and _you_ are the ones with the laser swords. There's a big reward going around for those things now," Edan said, readying his pistol. He smacked the wall parallel to the cockpit entryway and it revealed a compartment stocked with a few plasma grenades and a blaster rifle. He loaded them and looked back to Dorak, "So what do you say? You got my back?"

"Perhaps we can reason with these people."

" _Edan! You slimy rancor lover! I'm gonna kill you and blow your blasted ship to smithereens!"_ A voice came over the communications radio. " _I'm gonna cut your head off and use it as a hood ornament before I deliver it to the boss!"_

"Still think you can reason with _him_?" Edan said, laughing nervously.

"He sounds... Colorful. Who is he?" Dorak unhooked his lightsaber from his belt.

"That's Darog. He's one mean Duros, biggest one I've seen too. Looks like it's his ship and two shuttles with the landing party. So what do you say we take these guys out?"

Dorak nodded, "Vandar is still too weak, so it's just you and me. What do you want me to do?"

"Head to the turret on the top of the ship and blast one of those shuttles outta' the sky! Then meet me in the hold, get ready for a fight."

Dorak climbed the ladder to the laser turret and into the chair, ignoring the slight dull pain in his abdomen from Atris' narrowly missed fatal strike with her saber. He flicked the power on and searched for his target. Darog's ship was an old Republic man-o-war, which he hadn't seen since he was a young boy. The two shuttles approached on both sides. He realized he only had a few more seconds before they got danger closer and blasted away at the shuttle on the left.

The first two laser shots missed, bit the third landed dead on and the shuttle erupted into a fiery explosion before dying out in the cold space. Bodies of different aliens floated out from the destroyed hull. Some were in pieces. Dorak's stomach churned for moment at the brutality. He saw that the turrets battery monitor was flashing red, then it powered down.

"Nice shooting! What about the other?" Edan called up.

"The turret is dead! I'm coming back down!"

"Hurry! They're about to board!"

The remaining shuttle aligned itself with the closed ramp and began to pry it open with a hauling tether. The metal folded and screeched as the vacuum of space pulled some loose debris out of the ship, then a transfer tunnel suctioned itself to the gaping hole.

Before anyone even got across the platform, a hail of blaster fire rocketed through the entryway and seared the surrounding walls with smoking holes and electrical sparks. Edan and Dorak ducked behind a crate of supplies and waited for their turn. Suddenly, six raggedly dressed thugs of differentiating species entered through the passage.

Edan let loose a few shots of his blaster, striking one center mass and another in the right eye. They dropped to the floor, dead. The other thugs walked over the bodies and began returning fire while Dorak ignited his lightsaber and deflected the hostile energy. They bounced off the steel floor and into the legs of another two thugs. The final two came at them with vibroblades and Dorak took them both on, hacking and slashing at each other wildly, in a flurry of green light, Dorak dispatched the final two with little effort. They dropped to the ground, smoldering stab wounds pierced in both their hearts.

Darog peered through the tunnel from his shuttle and swore.

"Where did you get a Jedi? That wasn't in the job description..."

Edan met his eyes on the other end, "That's right, Darog! Come meet your maker if you're man enough!"

"You just killed six of my boys, you piece of scrap! You think I'm dumb enough to go in their alone?"

"Well you aren't getting out of this alive again, I should've finished you in that tavern on Colstev."

Dorak sheathed his lightsaber and hooked it back on his belt. He had had enough killing for one day. He had had enough killing for a lifetime but it never seemed to stop. At least he could control it this time.

"There's no more need for killing. Darog, come here and you have my promise as a Jedi we will treat you humanely," Dorak said.

"Dorak, now is not the time to be the merciful priest of the Force. This guy's a monster. A cunning one too," Edan mentioned, still pointing his pistol down the tunnel.

"This is a Republic quartermaster class ship, is it not?"

"Yes... And?"

"Then it has a brig where we can put him."

"Brig? Screw your brig!" Darog shouted as he unhooked a thermal detonator from his belt. He hummed it through the tunnel. Edan gasped and ran down the hallway. Dorak sighed and stopped it mid-air and pushed it back down the tunnel with a gentle push. The shuttle detached with the ship and began to fly off and the emergency hatch closed around the opening in the ship.

"Come back, Edan. It's safe now."

Edan looked out the window to see Darog's shuttle reach his own ship before exploding, ripping the shuttle apart and spreading to the ship itself, all igniting in a ball of quick fire before dying out in the oxygenless atmosphere.

"Fool. He should have known that wasn't the first time someone threw a grenade at a

Jedi," Dorak said to himself. He sat down in the trashed hold among the dead bodies as Edan came back.

"So, uh... Nice work there, Master Jedi. I really owe you one."

It was a long day. Dorak's stomach still hurt and he just killed more people in under ten minutes than he had been forced to since the civil war. There was something always different about killing non-sensitives, even in self-defense. He pitied them, in a way. A Jedi should never resort to violence unless they were forced to. He wasn't even a warrior, he was a historian, a professor. The times changed ever since Revan destroyed the balance in the Force. Now a new threat rises, stronger in the dark side than Revan and Malak. He just wanted to get some sleep.

"I'm going to check on Vandar then get some rest. I expect that you'll take care of your friends here?" Dorak stepped over the bodies and went down the hall to the sleeping quarters while Edan looked at the mess.

"Yeah... I'll take care of it."

"And please tell me when he are travel-worthy again. We must reach Dantooine. It is of utmost importance," the Jedi called from down the hall.

When he entered the sleeping quarters, he was met with a humming lightsaber held by a small green alien. The alien immediately disengaged when he realized it was his friend.

"Master Dorak, what was all that noise?" Vandar asked, coughing.

"Some bounty hunters. Our pilot is apparently a wanted man by the Exchange, and now we are accomplices!"

Vandar sighed a sigh that he used often when we was thinking, "We do not get to choose our destinies, Dorak. We only know that they are our own. Our pilot has his own and we are part of his as much as he is of ours."

"I know, my friend. It's been three years since Revan's redemption and I still detest all those we killed. A Jedi should be used to violence after the lives we've lived, but I still can't stand the thought of activating my lightsaber again. Atris almost _killed_ me. I could've _killed_ her. I don't want to fight anymore, Vandar."

"It is a difficult time, my old pupil. The last twenty years have been difficult. No Jedi deserves to be put through the trials we faced, but we chose the Order. The light will always triumph over darkness, sometimes that means the light must take up the sword to defend itself." the green alien explained. It reminded him of a time fifty years ago, when Dorak was just a young man, studying the ways of the Force.

"Is this the destiny the Force has decided of us?" Dorak asked.

"You know well enough the Force does not choose. He Force simpy _is_... And we must obey. Otherwise, the Order truly is lost. You look like you could use some rest from that nasty gash, old friend... Is pure pilot working on getting us to our destination?

"Yes. After he's done with the bodies in the hold. You get your sleep now, Vandar. We will have much to do when we arrive on Dantooine, I can sense it." Vandar pulled the sheets over himself and slowly drifted off into sleep.

Dorak got the okay signal from Edan that the drive started up again and they would make the jump to hyperspace any moment.

It was off to Datooine, then. Dorak quickly passed out on one of the cots. While the cut on his stomach was slowly healing, he felt that more wounds would be opening up, blood deep, soon enough


End file.
